The Company
apparently debuted on TNT in early August, and aired over the course of three
consecutive weeks. That’s about how long it took me to get through the film’s
DVD presentation… not because it wasn’t interesting, but because the miniseries
was so long that I had to break it up into chunks and catch pieces of it when I
could. Even at that considerable disadvantage to flow, though, the film works,
courtesy of its rich characters, exacting detail and exciting backdrops.
The Good Shepherd,
as both projects span decades and essentially tell the same expansive story — the
birth of the CIA as viewed chiefly through the life of a man who believed in
America and would sacrifice everything he loved to protect it, including chunks
of his own happiness and wellbeing. Adapted from Robert Littell’s sprawling,
900-page history of the organization, The
Company focuses on Jack McCauliffe (Chris O’Donnell), an idealistic Yale
kid recruited into the CIA by his coach, along with other peers like Leo Kritzky
(Alessandro Nivola). He’s sent to
to work with
the CIA) foreign agent Harvey Torriti (Alfred Molina), an eccentric man known
as “The Sorcerer.”
Soon Jack and Harvey find themselves entangled in double
lives, fighting an elusive but formidable enemy in an unrelenting and deadly
battle within the CIA itself. Together with counterintelligence chief James
Angleton (Michael Keaton), the men become hell-bent on finding the moles within
their own ranks before every operation they undertake is completely undermined.
As these agents and double agents delve deeper into the game of espionage, some
can remain detached. Jack, however, is forever changed and emotionally hollowed
by bearing witness to the cost in human lives. His struggle to remain coolly
professional and above the fray clashes with his love for Rainbow (Alexandra
Maria Lara, above left, of Control and the forthcoming Youth Without Youth),
a beautiful woman who turns out to be, not very surprisingly, an enemy
informant.
Assaying an organization where duplicity is required and
nothing is taken at face value, the themes hashed out in The Company are naturally many of the same things examined in The Good Shepherd:
how idealism is steadily eroded by suspicion and paranoia, and how personal
lives are sacrificed in dedication to this job. O’Donnell is in my book a
downgrade from Matt Damon, but not as steep as one might first think. The film’s
script, penned by Ken Nolan, is such a well-ordered affair, and presents such a
tapestry of details, that Jack is essentially a caretaker guide for this
story — a role for which O’Donnell is well suited. Keaton and Molina,
meanwhile, deliver fine work, and director Mikael Salomon (The Grid) deftly juggles action requirements, bureaucratic exposition
and stalking intrigue; particularly effective are the mole-rooting sequences of
the film’s middle third.
Housed in a regular Amray case with hinged tray, The Company is presented in a widescreen
transfer with deep, consistent blacks and no problems with edge enhancement, and
with matching French and English language Dolby digital 5.1 audio tracks, as
well as subtitles for each language. Its supplemental extras consist of a
DVD-ROM element and two featurettes. First up is a 15-minute-plus look at the
origins of the project, which includes great interviews with producer Ridley
Scott (at one time slated behind the camera, when the film was conceived of as
a feature) and executive producer John Calley, transitioning at the time from
studio head to independent producer, as well as other behind-the-scenes
players. Sony would ultimately bail on the project as a feature, and writer
Nolan (Black Hawk Down), who deems
Littell’s source material “an embarrassment of riches,” would flesh out the
vision even further, adding the entire segment about the Hungarian revolution.
The 23-minute-plus making-of featurette gives more time to executive producers
David Zucker and David Rosemont, as well as director Salomon; it talks about
how Salomon heartily pitched himself for the entire miniseries, when the
original plan was to use different directors for all three segments. O’Donnell
and Molina also appear in snippets, but there’s unfortunately no Keaton. Frankly,
an exclusive, longer sit-down with Nolan would likely have produced a lot more
fascinating anecdotal bang for one’s buck.
There is, however, also a nice Easter egg bonus if you
toggle to the left on the extras screen and highlight a lingering serial number
in the corner of the frame — a five-minute look at UPP’s visual effects work on
the movie, which includes everything from CGI debris and blood splatters to
matte paintings to increase historical detail. A one-minute sneak peek at TNT’s
The Closer and DVD previews for the
ninth season of Seinfeld, Premonition and forthcoming Sony Blu-ray titles are also included. B (Movie) B (Disc)